How many times have you heard a competitor in the mailing industry say something like, "Well, they might be able to charge those prices in that market, but if I charged those prices here I would be out of business in six months or less." Well, the facts are that prices charged for specific mailing services vary far more within individual markets than they do from one market to the next, according to the just-released 2009-2010 Mailing Services Pricing Study.

    Study Refutes Pricing Myths

    According to this latest study, pricing for identical products typically varies by less than 5%, whether you are comparing pricing based upon population density, geographic location, size of firm or even profitability. And yet, according to the study, when you delve deeper into a specific market it is not unusual to find pricing variations of 40% plus or minus what is listed as the average price.

    The study concludes that the differences in success or failure in the mailing industry cannot be attributed to pricing "too high" or "too low," but rather to other factors such as marketing skills, management style and overall productivity as measured by "Sales Per Employee." These factors seem to play a much greater role than pricing itself.

    Yes, while customers certainly take pricing into account, numerous surveys have also noted that factors such as overall dependability, general turnaround time and ease-of-doing business with you will typically rank higher than price. Nonetheless, it is indeed important to be aware of what your peers are charging for specific services in the mailing industry and that is the primary purpose of this industry study - to bring you up-to-date pricing information on this industry.

    The brand new 90-page study provides average and median prices for seven different quantities (1M to 50M) for more than 40 distinct operations and services provided in the mailing industry. Some of the services covered range from NCOA List Processing, De-Duping, Data Entry, Mail Matching, Machine and Hand labeling, Inkjet Addressing, Metering Charges, plus dozens and dozens of other services.

    To make pricing even easier for the average user, the study also provides interpolated pricing per thousand as well as price per piece for virtually all of the services covered in the study.

    You can get a copy of the study from the Mailing Systems Technology Store. This study sold out last year, so get your copy early.
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